Canada’s Immigration Minister Unveils New Express Entry Rules

On 16 October 2026, the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced significant changes to Canada's Express Entry immigration system. Starting 3 November 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will award extra Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points to candidates with eligible Canadian work experience or qualifying job offers in high-wage occupations, such as engineers and electricians.

The new rules create three distinct wage tiers for assessing job offers, with varying additional points based on the wage level. Furthermore, the requirement for a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) will be removed for job offers qualifying under this new framework, applicable to the Federal Skilled Worker Programme and the Federal Skilled Trades Programme.

While candidates already in the system will have their CRS scores recalculated automatically, those seeking extra points for job offers must update their profiles before the 3 November deadline. IRCC has warned that the recalculation may take up to two weeks, during which invitation rounds will be paused.